Following a statehouse vote earlier this month killing a proposed six-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax for funding road and bridge repairs, many across the state have been calling for a much needed “adult conversation” about just how we are going to fix a growing infrastructure backlog.
President Trump has said he wants to raise a trillion dollars for infrastructure. Given that here in Missouri and nationally it is proving extremely difficult to find a source of funding for upkeep of existing roads and bridges, let alone long overdue upgrades, the last thing we need to do is add to the pounding our infrastructure takes every day.
Yet that is what some in Washington, D.C., are considering even as our infrastructure deficit grows worse by the day.
The same Congress that so far cannot come together behind a solution for our infrastructure woes is toying with the idea of increasing maximum truck weight on Interstate highways from the current 80,000 pounds up to 91,000 pounds. Proposals like this seem to come up every year, and every year they’re a bad idea. This is especially true now, when our leaders do not seem able to reach agreement on how to keep our roads and bridges safe and in good repair.
In its annual report card on the nation’s infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently gave Missouri’s bridges a C- grade. This is better than many states, but nothing to brag about.
In 2015, the national transportation research organization TRIP found driving on deficient roads costs Missouri motorists about $4.5 billion annually in the form of additional vehicle operating costs, congestion related delays and traffic accidents. TRIP also found that 22 percent of Missouri roads are in poor condition and 23 percent of our bridges are in need of repair, improvement or replacement.
Of course, the problem of deteriorating roads and bridges is not unique to Missouri. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), thousands of Interstate and National Highway System bridges just cannot handle the pounding they would take from heavier trucks. The fact that 80,000-pound trucks only pay for about 80 percent of their highway and bridge damage costs, according to USDOT, and that 91,000-pounds trucks would only cover about 55 percent of theirs just adds insult to injury.
We do need an adult conversation about our infrastructure repair, maintenance and expansion needs and how we’ll pay for them, and the conversation needs to include local residents and elected officials at all levels, from city hall up to Congress and the White House.
As a starting point I would suggest that we reject ideas like super-sizing big-rig truck weights that will only set us further back in terms of infrastructure damage while adding to burdens on average taxpayers.
